Measuring Food Insecurity ( UPSC Current Affairs)

Relevance: GS2 - Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Issues relating to poverty and hunger.

(Source: Indian Express, 12/03/2022)

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Why in the news?

• According to the Global Hunger Index 2022, India ranks 107th out of 121 countries monitored in 2021.
• The ranking of India is based on the use of the Indian government's official statistics, the National Family Health Survey, which reveals alarmingly high rates of child mortality and chronic malnutrition in India, despite significant progress in recent years.
• The report is published by Concern Worldwide, which computes its index using one of FAO's statistics, among others.

What is Food Security?

• Food Security is a multifaceted concept. Food is as necessary for survival as oxygen is for breathing. However, food security entails more than just eating two square meals per day. It has the following dimensions:
  • Availability: It refers to domestic food production, food imports, and stock held in government granaries.
  • Accessibility: Food is accessible to all people, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
  • Affordability: It denotes having enough money to purchase sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet one's dietary requirements.
• Thus, a country's food security is only ensured when there is enough food for everyone, everyone has the means to purchase food of acceptable quality, and there are no barriers to access.

About FAO

• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a United Nations specialized agency that leads global efforts to end hunger.
• FAO was founded in 1945 and has its headquarters in Rome, Italy.
• It was founded with the goal of ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality food in sufficient quantities to live a healthy lifestyle.
• Every year, the FAO issues a number of major 'State of the World' reports on food, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and natural resources.

Measures of FAO

• FAO is committed to valid and dependable food security measures. Food security exists when all people have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life at all times.
• Only by identifying those who are food insecure can effective policies to address the root causes of the problem be developed.
• The article attempts to undermine technical aspects of FAO's food security measurement in order to argue that the report's ranking does not reflect reality and that food insecurity is not a problem in India.
• India's ranking is based on the use of the Indian government's official statistics, the National Family Health Survey, which shows that acute malnutrition rates in children under the age of five are among the highest in the world.
• The same official data source confirms that India still has alarmingly high rates of child mortality and chronic malnutrition, despite significant progress in recent years. The Global Hunger Index was informed by the same official data source.

Is an increase in child stunting and child wasting necessarily bad?

• It claims that the stunted and wasted children would have died if child mortality rates had not decreased.
• It was claimed that falling child mortality rates are no consolation for the fact that a large proportion of children continue to suffer from the devastating consequences of acute and chronic malnutrition.
• The article also criticizes an FAO indicator used to measure food security, the prevalence of malnutrition.
• In 2015, countries scrutinized and approved this indicator to track the UN's SDGs through the UN Statistical Commission and the UN Economic and Social Council.

Negative Aspects of FAO

• First, it incorrectly assumes that the prevalence of malnutrition is solely based on survey data collected by FAO using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES).
  • In reality, it is calculated using national food balances and household consumption data.
  • The most recent food consumption data for India is from 2011, when the results of the 68th round of the NSS were released.
  • FAO does not have access to more recent data, including the results of the 75th round of the same consumer expenditure survey conducted in 2017-2018, which are not publicly available.
• The second error is a misunderstanding of how FAO's FIES data are processed to ensure valid, reliable measures of the severity of food insecurity across countries.
  • Because the international community did not have a way to identify and monitor food insecure households and individuals in a comparable manner across countries, FAO launched the "Voices of the Hungry" project in 2013, involving global academic and political communities.

What is the Global Hunger Index (GHI)?

• The Global Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
• The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
• GHI scores are based on the values of four component indicators:
  • Undernourishment
  • Child Stunting
  • Child Wasting
  • Child Mortality
• Undernourishment: the share of the population with insufficient caloric intake.
• Child stunting: the share of children under age five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition.
• Child wasting: the share of children under age five who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition.
• Child mortality: the share of children who die before their fifth birthday, partly reflecting the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments.
• Based on the values of the four indicators, a GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting the severity of hunger, where 0 is the best possible score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst. Each country’s GHI score is classified by severity, from low to extremely alarming.
• The aim of the GHI is to trigger action to reduce hunger around the world.

Steps taken by the government to address Malnutrition

• Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme: To address the issue of malnutrition in the nation, the government is implementing a number of schemes and initiatives under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme.
• The National Food Security Act (NFSA) of 2013: It aims to ensure food and nutrition security for the most vulnerable people through its associated schemes and programs, making food access a legal right.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan: The government of India has launched the National Nutrition Mission (NNM) or POSHAN Abhiyaan to ensure a "Malnutrition Free India" by 2022.
• Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyan: Launched in 2018, the mission aims to reduce the annual rate of anaemia decline by one to three percentage points.
• Mid-day Meal (MDM) scheme: It aims to improve nutritional levels among schoolchildren, which has a direct and positive impact on enrolment, retention, and attendance in schools.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): Rs.6,000 is transferred directly to pregnant women's bank accounts in order for them to have better delivery facilities.
• Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Program: It was established in 1975 with the goal of providing food, preschool education, primary healthcare, immunization, health check-ups, and referral services to children under the age of six and their mothers.

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FAQs

MCQ

Question: With reference to the provisions made under the National Food Security Act, 2013, consider the following statements: (UPSC 2018)

1. The families coming under the category of 'below poverty line (BPL)' only are eligible to receive subsidized food grains.
2. The eldest woman in a household, of age 18 years or above, shall be the head of the household for the purpose of issuance of a ration card.
3. Pregnant women and lactating mothers are entitled to a 'take-home ration' of 1600 calories per day during pregnancy and for six months thereafter.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 3 only